Thirty-one patients with advanced previously treated non-Hodgkin's lymphomas who had failed to attain complete remission on combination chemotherapy or who had relapsed after receiving combination chemotherapy and attaining a remission have been treated with one of two combinations of drugs. Initially, patients who had not received an adriamycin-containing regimen were treated with a combination of adriamycin, VM-26 and bleomycin and patients who had received adriamycin previously were treated with platinum and VM-26 and bleomycin. Ten patients were treated with the platinum-containing combination, none of whom responded to treatment. This arm was therefore discontinued. Thereafter all patients were treated with the adriamycin combination regardless of previous exposure to the drug. Twenty-one patients have received this therapy with five patients attaining complete remissions and five patients partial remissions. Nine patients failed to respond and the remainder of the patients are still receiving treatment. Toxicities that have been seen have been predominantly myelosuppression. Because of its inactivity, the platinum arm has been discontinued while the adriamycin combination seems relatively active regardless of previous exposure to the drug and continues to accrue patients.